Treat You Better
by I-Really-Love-Happy-Endings
Summary: *TWO-SHOT* Jace cheats on Clary and she is devastated. She escapes from the Institute and one black-haired blue-eyed boy goes looking for her. Some decisions and confessions are made. Alec/Clary
1. Part 1

**Hey guys, I'm back with another story. I know I said the same thing over a year ago and I'm sorry. This is something that I thought of after watching the movie City Of Bones and the TV show Shadowhunters. It's my first TMI story, so I hope you'll like it :)**

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Clary's POV

 _I can't believe it. How could he?_ I ran away from him. From that place where I saw him kissing some random blonde girl. _How could he do this to me? I thought he loved me._ Flashbacks of him and her, pressed against each other kept flashing through my mind. I wanted to run even faster, but I couldn't see because of my tears. I slowed down and headed to a nearby forest. It calmed me down. Also, I needed to sort out a few things. _What do I do?_ I didn't feel like going to the Institute. And I definitely didn't feel like talking to anybody. Thinking about how I would get tormented with questions from everyone, I decided to not go back just yet.

I burst into crying again. I tried to hold onto the closest tree, but that didn't stop me from sinking to the ground. I thought about all the times that we couldn't be together. How we had to fight for our love. But I guess it meant nothing to him. All the times he told me he loved me... it was all a lie. One big lie. Oh gosh, I wish I wasn't so stupid. Everyone warned me. Everyone told me that I shouldn't get close to him and date him. _He will break your heart, Clary ._ I remembered what my mom told me. Simon and Luke kept telling me the same thing, but I ignored them. I ignored all the red flags and warning signs... I should have known.

It was getting dark quite fast, so I thought it would be a good idea to go back. I got up from the dirty ground and started making my way through the forest. It wasn't completely dark and I could still see pretty well. By the time I got out of the forest, it was dark, all the street light were lit up and there weren't as many people out as before. When I spotted the Institute from afar, I got nervous. _When if he's there?_ I knew I wouldn't be able to act like everything was okay, like I didn't see what I saw a few hours ago.

I was afraid to open the door. Or even knock. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. After a few moments of staring at the door, I turned around. I sat on the cold hard ground and started crying. Again. Third time that day. _I didn't want to face him. I didn't want to have anything to do with him ever again. But I had to go there. Maybe I could find Izzy, she would help me._ So I picked myself up from the ground and slowly opened the door. The Institute was dark, but that was understandable, it was really late. I got to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. All that crying dehydrated me. Then I put the angry glass down and headed to my bedroom. But I felt myself collide with something big and hard. Someone.

"Clary?" _Oh no no no. Please, anyone else, but not Jace._ "Clary, where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you." I didn't respond, I could imagine how "worried" he was. I just brushed past him, ignoring what he was saying.

"Clary, stop! Talk to me!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him. I couldn't bare it anymore.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" I didn't mean to shout, I'm sure I just woke up the whole Institute. Jace just looked at me, obviously he was at loss of words. I freed myself from his grip and took off running to my bedroom. I ran up the stairs but then I bumped into Isabelle.

"Clary?! What was that shout? What happened? Are you okay?" Afraid of breaking down again, I just hugged her. She immediately hugged me back, without saying anything.

"Wanna go to my room and tell me what happened?" She said softly and let go of me. I nodded and followed her lead. I knew that I could trust Isabelle with anything and she would understand. She closed the door behind me and we both sat on her king-sized bed. I explained what happened. Everything, from beginning to end. Tears were running down my face by the time I finished.

"Oh Clary...I'm so sorry." She gave me another hug, this one lasted much longer. I smiled slightly, thanking God for Isabelle.

"Do you want me to walk you to your room?" I just nodded and got up from her bed. Luckily, we didn't meet Jace on the short way to my room. I don't think I would be able to handle it.

"Thank you so much, Izzy." I said putting my hand on the door knob, ready to open the door.

"Remember, Clary. Anytime you need me, I'm here for you. Sleep tight." I gave her one last smile before opening to door and going in. I closed the door behind me and turned on the lights. I turned around, but what I saw nearly gave me a heart attack. It was Jace, he was sitting on my bed. But... he was all beaten up, he had a black eye and his lower lip was bleeding. But he didn't seem to care. I wanted to feel sorry for him and... _No!_ I took a deep breath.

"What do you want?" I asked him bitterly. He stood up and started walking to me slowly.

"Clary, I just want to explain myself. Please..."

"What do you want to explain about the fact that I saw you kissing some random blonde chick? It sounds pretty clear to me." I ran my hands through my hair. This whole situation. God... It was making me feel like I'm going to lose my mind any moment.

"I swear that it meant nothing to me. I only love you and I will always love you. Please, forgive me. I don't know what I would do without you." I looked into his golden eyes. They lacked the bright spark that always used to be there. They were dark. And they looked like they were filled with hopelessness and emptiness. And he was... He was crying. I'd never seen him cry before. It almost made me want to take him back. Almost.

"What's done is done. Please leave." He nodded and slowly started walking to the door. As I watched him, I couldn't move. All the good memories of us flashed through my mind. I never thought that he would throw it all away like that. So easily. Like a crumpled piece of paper. Before opening the door, he turned back to me.

"Clary... I just want you to remember that I will always love you. You're the only person I've ever loved and I lost you because of one stupid and reckless mistake, which I'm going to regret for the rest of my life. But if one day... if one day something makes you change your mind and you'll decide to forgive me. I'll be here." With that he left. I couldn't believe it. I just stood there and stared at the door. God knows how long I've been standing there, I lost track of time. Then I broke down again. He was gone. Everything we ever were was gone. I felt like everything I've ever known disappeared in the blink of an eye. I couldn't take it. _I have to get away from here._ I got up from the ground and headed straight to my closet. _Do I really want to do this?_ I didn't stop. I opened the closet door and looked for a backpack. I found one that was large and black. _Perfect._ I threw it carelessly on my bed and started filling it with clothes. Not all of them. Just enough to last me a couple days. Next some toiletries. _What am I missing?_ I noticed my sketchbook lying on the bedside table. I put it in the backpack. I put in some other important stuff and zipped it up. I grabbed my phone that was on my pillow. _Take it or leave it?_ I decided to take it, making a mental note to not pick up any phone calls or answer messages. I slowly opened the door and looked around. No one was in the hallway. It was probably 1 AM so it was understandable that everyone was asleep in their rooms. I closed the door as quietly as I could and headed towards the staircase. I swiftly walked down the stairs and made my way to the front door. After taking one last look around the Institute, I left the building and stepped into dark, cold night.

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 **I hope you liked the first part :) At first I wanted it to be a one-shot but it was getting too long, so I had to separate it. Review and tell me what you liked or didn't like about the first part :)**


	2. Part 2

**Here is the second part of this two-shot. I enjoyed writing it and I hope that you will enjoy reading it :)**

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Alec's POV

I was peacefully sleeping when I heard a shout from the kitchen.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" _What the hell?_ I wanted to ignore it but... _Wait... is that Clary?_ I got from my bed and headed towards the door. I didn't even bother putting on a T-shirt and ran out the door only in sweatpants. I ran to the kitchen full-speed, past Izzy's room, down the stairs. There was no one besides Jace. I had a bad feeling that he had something to do with it. He was leaning against the counter, staring at the floor. He didn't even notice me at first.

"Hey. What happened?" Something was wrong. Very wrong. I could sense it. He lifted his head up and I could see hurt and regret written all over his face. _I wonder what happened between him and Clary..._

 _"_ That's none of your business." This made me angry. I stopped him when he was trying to walk past me and leave. I gave him a deadly look.

"Oh I bet it is, so spill it." I pushed him back, maybe a little too strongly. He looked down and sighed defeated.

"Okay...Um..I..Ehm..."

"You what?" I was getting really impatient.

"I cheated on her." That was it. That was the moment when I lost it. Without hesitation I raised my fist and hit him in the nose. He stumbled a few steps back, but didn't fall.

"You little motherfucker, how could you do that to her?" I grabbed him by the collar so I could look him in the eyes. I couldn't believe that this was _parabaitai_ , my bother... I didn't recognize him. And I couldn't recognize myself either. Why was I reacting like this? _Clary._ No. _Yes._

"Why do you even care?" _Why do I even care?_ _Good question. Maybe because I have feelings for Clary?_ Shut up! I pushed the thought to the back of my mind.

"Maybe, because I thought that you cared about Clary and I thought you could do better than that."I punched him again.

"You know... If I didn't know you any better I'd say that you have feelings for Clary." He smirked, wiping the blood from his bleeding lower lip. That sent me over the edge. For a moment I forgot that he was my brother. I punched him once again and this time he fell backwards. I got on top of him and started throwing punches like I was crazy. Then and there he would hit me back, but it wasn't as effective as he'd like it to be.

When he looked like he had enough, I stood up and went to my room, leaving him behind. I closed the door behind me and let out air I didn't even know I was holding. I walked to the bathroom, turned on the light and looked at myself in the mirror. I observed my refection very carefully. My lip was bleeding a little bit, but nothing serious. And I had two bruises. One was on my jaw and looked pretty bad. I didn't even dare to touch it. The other one was on the side of my nose. That one looked a lot better. I gently washed my face with warm water. After that, I switched the lights off and left the bathroom. Strangely, I didn't want to go back to sleep. I guess it was the rush of emotions that I felt. So I decided to go for a run. I got dressed and left the building.

I felt the cold air in my hair, which felt nice. Everything seemed to be forgotten for a moment as I ran through the streets of New York. Or.. almost everything. My mind kept wandering to Clary. What was she doing at the moment? But more importantly... _How_ was she doing? I felt the anger boiling up inside of me again, so I ran faster. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't run away from my feelings. _I am in love with Clary Fray._ Call me selfish, but I was glad that they were over. He didn't deserve her anyway. She was too good, too pure, too perfect for someone like Jace. I backed off because I wanted her to be happy. Even if that was with someone else. As long as she was happy, I didn't mind. But now... I needed to know she was okay. I needed to see her and make sure that she was alright.

I returned to the Institute and made my way straight to Clary's room. When I reached her door, I didn't know whether to knock or not. I didn't want to wake her up if she was already asleep and I didn't want to storm in without knocking. After a few moments I knocked and waited a couple of moments, but she didn't open the door. So I knocked again, louder this time. Still no response, that was strange.

"Clary, are you in there?" Slowly and quietly I opened the door. I had a bad feeling about this. I stepped over the doorstep and goosebumps ran over my body. After I closed the door, I switched on the lights. I couldn't see her anywhere. At that moment I started to panic a little. I ran to the bathroom to see if she was there, but she wasn't there either. I looked around her room, trying to find some clues. Her bed looked made and untouched. Her closet was spread open and some drawers were empty. She ran away. I quickly searched for my phone in my pockets and dialed her number once I found it. _Come on, Clary. Pick up._ She didn't pick up and I got directed to the voice mail.

"Hey...Um..Clary, this is Alec. I know what happened and.. I know that you ran away. I just... I know what you're going through is hard but please, be careful." I didn't really know what to say, so I hung up. I hoped she would listen to the voice mail. _I have to go looking for her._ I put my phone back in my pocket. Then I left her room and made my way out of the Institute. I didn't notice that before, but it was cold. I walked a few meters but then I stopped. As I looked around my surroundings I realized that she could be anywhere. I would search the whole New York to find her if I had to. So I took off. I walked and walked through the streets and the dirty alleys of Manhattan, checking every corner, constantly looking around hoping the spot a certain redhead. The thought of giving up and going back the Institute never crossed my mind.

I pulled out my phone to check the time and also if Clary replied. She didn't and the time was 03:03. I stopped for a moment to think. I had been nearly two hours and I still hadn't found her. I was even more worried than before, if that was even possible. So I started walking again. _I am not going back to the Institute without you Clary. By the Angel, where are you?_ I felt a raindrop on my cheek. Another one on my hand. Another one on my nose. And then I started feeling them everywhere. It started raining and at that moment I was glad that I had taken my thick waterproof jacket.

Suddenly I started hearing someone's sobs. As I was getting closer, I could hear better. They were coming from a small alley. Clary! It was Clary! I noticed her red hair being illuminated by the street lights. I walked very slowly to her.

"Clary." Her head shot up my way and stopped. I couldn't move, I felt as if her eyes paralyzed me. The next thing I know, she was running away from me so I went after her.

"Clary! Clary, wait!" Damn, all the training made her a really good runner, I had trouble just catching up to her.

"Go away, Alec!" I ignored what she said and started running faster than before. She kept looking over her shoulder. When I finally caught up to her, I grabbed her arm and spun her around. She crashed against my chest and when she realized what happened she started hitting my chest and shoulders.

"LET ME GO! I don't want to go back." She gave up and started crying. It was still raining and it was hard to spot the difference, but I noticed. I pulled her in a tight hug and didn't say anything. It hurt me to see her like this, it broke my heart. She let go of me and I noticed that every piece of her clothing was soaked. I instinctively took off my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Here. You need it more than I do." She held it closer to her.

"Thank you." She smiled and I swear my heart jumped a little.

"Anytime." I smiled back. I lead her to an entrance of one shop that was roofed. The ground was dry so we sat down next to each other. I had my left arm wrapped around her and her head was resting on my shoulder. It felt nice. We sat in silence and Clary was the first one to break it.

"Why did you come looking for me? And how did you know I was gone?"

"Jace told me what he did to you and I beat him up pretty hard." She chuckled and I laughed a little bit too.

"So that was you." She looked up at me. _These beautiful green eyes..._ I almost got lost in them and forgot to talk.

"Ye-Yeah, that was me. And when I wanted to check on you, I didn't find you in your room. I panicked. You didn't reply to my voice mail so I decided to go looking for you." I looked her deeply in the eyes. "I was really worried that something might happen to you." I examined her face and memorized every single detail. Her pale skin that contrasted with her fiery red hair. Her beautiful emerald eyes that I got myself lost every time I looked into them. Her small adorable nose and finally, her lips. Lips that I had wanted to kiss every since I saw her.

I found myself leaning closer to her as I was looking into her eyes. She didn't look like she minded. I saw she looked from my eyes to my lips and then back to my eyes. I put my right hand on her cheek and she leaned her head and closed her eyes. That was when I couldn't take it anymore. I crashed my lips against hers. I know it sounds cliche but I felt sparks. I put everything in that kiss. Hope, anger, pain, passion, newfound hope but mostly love. I didn't know how long we were kissing, I felt like I was in heaven where time didn't exist. But Clary pulled me down to earth when she pulled away. We were both breathing heavily. I would have said something if I could think straight.

"Alec, I-"

"I love you, Clary." I blurted out without thinking. _Shit! Shit! Shit!_ For a moment there was confusion in her face. I thought that she would get mad, slap me and storm off, but none of that happened. She smiled.

"I can't hide it anymore, Clary. I am in love with you. I know that there's a lot going on in your world at the moment and I promise you, that I'll be there for you when you need me." Our foreheads were touching and I was holding breath, afraid to let it out. Clary leaned her a head a little and kissed me on the cheek.

"I would love to be with you." She was looking in my eyes and then her eyes traveled down to my lips. She bit her lower lip and I kissed her again, with no regrets. This kiss was more heated and passionate.

"We should go back." Clary said unexpectedly.

"I thought you didn't want to go back."

"I didn't but I'd have to face Jace one way or another, so why not get through with it as soon as possible." She got up from the ground and looked down at me. I got up soon after she did.

"Okay, let's go." I took her hand and we slowly walked back to the Institute.

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 **Feel free to tell me what you thought about this two-shot, if you liked it and if you'd like another Fraywood story in the future or something different :)**


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